Taunter

I first looked into gastric bypass in 2006. I was very interested after a close friend of mine had had the surgery and was looking/feeling great. I attended several informational sessions, several group therapy sessions and had started the process when I let some comments by a family member derail me. Then followed several more attempts at Weight Watchers where i lost 20-40lbs and then gained it back and more.
 
When next I looked at surgery it was 2009 and I was about to turn 40. I was at my heaviest - 382 lbs - and didn't feel like I'd achieved any of the goals I'd set for myself. There was an ad on TV for a place in Houston for lap-band surgery so I called to find out more. Turned out my insurance would cover most of the procedure so they fast-tracked me and I was the proud owner of a lap-band within two months of my first inquiry. I went to my first two fill appointments and lost around 50 lbs within the first 6 months and then I stalled. Primarily because I wasn't following the dietary restrictions. That and I lost my job and was facing foreclosure were all reasons I used for not keeping up with using the tool I'd received.
 
In October 2015 I was diagnosed with diabetes type 2. I'd been pre-diabetic for nearly 10 years and my lack of diet and regular exercise had finally caught up with me. I decided it was time to look into gastric bypass again. This time I was required to go through 6 months of nutritionist visits and to lose 35 lbs before they'd proceed with the surgery. I was also  diagnosed with severe obstructive sleep apnea and a few months later started experiencing issues with GERD. Since the most weight I'd lost even after lapband was around 40 lbs, the requirement to lose 35 was de-motivating and frustrating. I decided to switch surgeons.
 
I ended up with a practice about 80 miles from my home. There I met with nutritionists who gave me a much more reasonable 15lb loss requirement. After going there several months and seeing their psychiatrist for guidance on binge-ing, I was finally passed for surgery on 11/3/2016. My paperwork was submitted to insurance for review and I was declined for revision from Band to RNY on 11/30/2016. My surgeon held a peer-to-peer review on 2/1/2017 and I was declined for that as well. I hired the Lindstrom Obesity Advocacy lawyers in April 2017 and after being declined in their second level of reviews, that decision was overturned by an external review board on 9/1/2017. I am now approved for insurance coverage of my revision surgery.
 
After two more visits with the surgeon's office I am finally cleared for surgery and have a date: 11/20/2017!